Literature Circles are small groups of students who meet together to talk about books they have read.

• Each member of the group has a job with certain responsibilities.

• If the group is to work effectively, each person must do his job.

• Participation and self-control are important ingredients in successful Literature Circles.

Discussion DirectorYour job is to develop a list of questions that your group will want to discuss about the piece. Don’t worry about the small details; your job is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share feelings. Usually the best questions come from your own thoughts and ideas as you read.

Sample Questions

•What was going through your mind as

you read this piece?

•What was the topic or theme?

•Did anything surprise you?

•How did you feel about

the characters?

Character AnalyzerYour job is to choose a character and write a response about him/her. Does this character remind you of anyone? What is your opinion of the character? What does he look like, and what does he do? Identify some of the character’s traits and give evidence from the story to support your ideas.

IllustatorYour job is to draw anything about the piece you liked. You may also draw something as a response to the reading.

-Character

-Setting

-Problem

-Exciting Part

-Surprising Part

When your group meets, don’t say what your drawing is. Let them guess and talk about it. Then you can tell them about it.

Travel Tracer

When you read a book, characters move around often and the scene changes frequently. It is important to keep track of these changes. The Travel Tracer’s job is to keep track of the setting, describing in detail using words or an action map. Happy Trails to You, Until We Meet Again.

Researcher

The Researcher’s job is to find relevant information related to a topic in the book. This could include information about the time period, pictures, information about the author or information about any character related to a historical figure.

Text Connector

Your job is to connect the text to something in life or to another text. Does this story remind you of anything? Identify whether your connection is text to text(TT) or text to life (TL).

SummarizerYour job is to write a brief summary of the story. That means that you are retelling the key points in a shorter version. Include the main ideas, but leave out small details.

Word FinderWrite down any words you don’t know. Also write down words the author used that you think are especially interesting or vivid. Use context clues and/or a dictionary to find word meanings. Write down the page number and sentence from the book. When your group meets, help your group members talk about the words you have chosen.

Literary LuminaryYour job is to pick parts of the piece that you want to call attention to your group. You might choose a:

- Good Part - Interesting Part

- Confusing Part - Funny Part

- Important Part - Surprising Part

- Scary Part - Good Description

-Good Writing Sample

Remember:

• Do your job with excellence!• Do your part to enable your group to have a meaningful conversation about your book.• Stay on topic as you talk.• Share your ideas and enjoy the conversation.